


Sunday Fathers and Uncles:  The Father Lottery

by Ink_Gypsy



Series: Sunday Fathers and Uncles Universe [7]
Category: Lord of the Rings RPF
Genre: M/M, Sean Astin/Elijah Wood - Freeform, au fics, holiday fics, sunday fathers and uncles universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-19
Updated: 2013-06-19
Packaged: 2017-12-15 05:08:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/845677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ink_Gypsy/pseuds/Ink_Gypsy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sean and Elijah open up to each other about their fathers on Father's Day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sunday Fathers and Uncles:  The Father Lottery

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of my Sunday Fathers and Uncles Universe, which was created on Father's Day 2010.

"You don't talk about your father," Sean says. It's an appropriate topic for the day, today being Father's Day, a holiday that has always been his favorite. He has three beautiful daughters, and while most of his fathering has been done in absentia the past year, they still mean everything to him and will always be the three most important people in his life. But the holiday has new meaning for Sean now because it brought Elijah into his life. It's hard to believe that a whole year has passed since they met in this same public playground while watching their children play. Sean had mistaken Elijah for another father, but the little boy Elijah had with him turned out to be his nephew, the son of his sister. Finding Elijah, who had offered him friendship and helped him navigate through his confusing new life, had been a turning point for Sean, and Sean doubted he'd have been it through to the other side without him.

Yet despite their friendship and the many hours they'd spent together, Sean still knew only a small portion about Elijah's life. He'd met Elijah's mother Debbie and his sister Hannah, the mother of young Aaron, but there had never been any mention of his father, and Sean had been hesitant to pry. But the anniversary of their meeting and the day itself has made him feel it would be all right to ask now.

"Your father," Sean says again. 

There's a momentary flash of sadness in Elijah's eyes, but it disappears quickly and the blue eyes resume their usual sparkle. "Not much to tell," he replies. "My folks divorced when I was fifteen, and he just took off."

"I'm so sorry," Sean sympathizes. "So you don't know where he is?"

Elijah shakes his head. "It's not like he dropped off the face of the earth, Sean. He just moved back to where they lived when they were first married, and we stayed here, end of story. And he didn't fall off everyone's radar, just mine."

"Does--" Sean starts, then hesitates, unsure of what tense to use. "--did he know you were gay?"

Elijah shrugs. "He probably did since I was already heading in that direction before he left, but I don't know for sure, and care even less." Finished sharing, Elijah turns Sean's question back on him. "What about your Dad?"

Satisfied he's gotten all the information he's going to for today, Sean is happy to share his own story. "My folks divorced when I was in my early teens, too," he begins.

Elijah nods. "So we share the same sob story," he surmises.

"Not at all," Sean corrects him. "Even though he stopped being my mother's husband, he didn't stop being my Dad." He's sorry the moment he says it, thinking he's made Elijah feel worse than he already must about the estrangement between him and his own father.

But Elijah doesn't look upset. Instead, he smiles. "That's nice," he tells Sean. "So you're still close."

"As close as ever," Sean confirms. "He's still the first one I call when I need advice, and his advice is still the best."

Elijah asks, "How'd he take the news about your breakup with Christine?"

"Fine."

Elijah purses his lips then expands his question. "And the reason behind it?"

Sean sighs. "It was a shock, of course. I guess no father expects to hear that his grown son is gay, especially after that son has been married for years and fathered three children."

"But he's okay with it now?"

Sean nods. "What he wants more than anything else is for me to be happy, even if my life didn't turn out the way he expected it would, or keep going the way it had been, so yeah, he's fine with it, and nothing's really changed for him, at least nothing that matters. He's just as close to the girls as before because he's always going to be their grandfather, just like he's always going to be my Dad."

Elijah wears the expression of a child who's just heard the "happily ever after" part of a fairy tale and is in awe that such wondrous stories exist. "Looks like you hit the jackpot in The Father Lottery with him," he says. He looks over at Lizzie and Bella who are on the slide with Aaron, then turns back to Sean and adds, "Just like your daughters did with you."

Hearing those words from Elijah fills Sean's heart with pride. "Thank you for saying that, Elijah. I hope I'll always be as good a father to them as he was to me."

Elijah unobtrusively takes Sean's hand where it rests beside his on the bench they share. "I'd say you're well on your way to making that happen."

Sean wraps his fingers around Elijah's and squeezes. "I'm going to do my best to make sure it does."

"It will," Elijah says with such confidence that Sean can almost believe that Elijah isn't just presupposing and knows what he's said is actually true. "Happy Father's Day, Sean."


End file.
